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Joseph W. Henderson calls for justice for “the negro,” by discrimination stopping at West Point and Annapolis. A National Conference of Colored Men to be held in Rhode Island.
Sagamore Hill National Historic Site
1917-03
Wallace Ruff asks William O. Trenor to join the African American regiment Trenor is organizing. Ruff requests further information. The letter is incorrectly addressed to W. O. Trainer.
Sagamore Hill National Historic Site
1917-04-13
Charles Henry Henderson requests a commission in the African American regiment William O. Trenor is organizing. Henderson includes his experience and references. Henderson served in the 10th Cavalry during the Spanish-American War.
Sagamore Hill National Historic Site
1917-04-05
William C. Spencer applies for a commission as Captain in the African American regiment that William O. Trenor is organizing.
Sagamore Hill National Historic Site
1917-04-10
On behalf of Theodore Roosevelt, his secretary responds to William O. Trenor’s letter of April 14, 1917. Roosevelt says he cannot make any promises regarding Trenor’s proposed African American regiment.
Sagamore Hill National Historic Site
1917-04-18
William O. Trenor appeals to Theodore Roosevelt to consider adding Trenor’s proposed African American regiment to his organization if Roosevelt is permitted to head a division to France.
Sagamore Hill National Historic Site
1917-04-14
B. D. Mayo inquires about the status of the African American regiment that William O. Trenor is raising. He recommends Captain Grove as an officer.
Sagamore Hill National Historic Site
1917-04-03
William O. Trenor writes to C. C. McCready regarding making him captain of B company in the African American regiment under his command. Specifications for wages and requirements for regiment officers are also addressed.
Sagamore Hill National Historic Site
1917-04-02
Article regarding the African American regiment being raised by William O. Trenor that is causing excitement in African American men eager to enlist and white men eager to become officers in Roanoke, Virginia.
Sagamore Hill National Historic Site
1917-04-01
G. B. Bright writes to William O. Trenor regarding an Evening World article of March 31, 1917, detailing Trenor’s plans to lead an regiment of African Americans into battle. G. B. Bright inquires as to how Trenor’s plans are progressing.
Sagamore Hill National Historic Site
1917-03-31
Article discussing William Oren Trenor’s plan to organize a Negro regiment in case the United States declares war on Germany, with specifications for the different companies to be raised.
Sagamore Hill National Historic Site
1917-03-31
President Roosevelt tells Senator Smith that he cannot discuss the statement Smith says he made, as he does not remember making it. Regarding the Brownsville affair, Roosevelt affirms his right to dismiss the officers and states that Senator Joseph Benson Foraker’s bill regarding the matter is “purely academic.” The investigation has shown that ten to twenty black soldiers committed the assault and many more of their comrades knew about it.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-04-24
President Roosevelt was pleased by B. Lawton Wiggins’s letter. He feels that his response to the Brownsville incident is “one of those vital matters” where he can not consider his own political or personal needs.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-12-26
Judge Speer provides historical justification for President Roosevelt’s actions in the Brownsville affair, involving the mass dishonorable discharge of African American soldiers, citing George Washington’s similar discharge of rowdy troops. Speer also mentions the Raid on Deerfield during Queen Anne’s War and the siege of Magdeburg during the Thirty Years’ War. Speer disagrees with Senator Tillman’s assessment that Roosevelt “lynched” the discharged soldiers, as did the editorial boards of several prominent Georgia newspapers.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-14
Judge Emory Speer of Georgia seems to be of the opinion that President Roosevelt “did not proceed without authority and certainly not without precedent” when he discharged without honor the African American troops involved in the “shooting up” of Brownsville, Texas, comparing the situation to an incident involving George Washington and the “Connecticut Light Horse” militia. Speer notes that the language of Article 5 of the Federal Constitution suggests that a “different method of punishment” can be inflicted by the President when crimes are committed by members of land and naval forces.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-09
Secretary of War Taft forwards to Chief of Staff Chaffee correspondence from President Roosevelt inquiring into appointing a “colored contract surgeon.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-12-26
Surgeon General O’Reilly argues the appointment of African American physicians is undesirable and would negatively affect the Armed Forces. These include the “repugnance” that would be felt by white families treated by an African American doctor and the complexities of rank and race in the service. O’Reilly states clearly the War Department is not concerned with the broader concept of African American rights but with the practicalities of service conditions and morale.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-12-24
General Frederick Dent Grant and General Andrew Sheridan Burt (commander) returning from Mount Arayat, at the head of the famous 25th Infantry, colored. Filmed March 23, 1900, in the Philippine Islands, following the 25th Infantry’s participation at the battle of Mt. Arayat in January 1900.
Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound
1900
On behalf of President Roosevelt, William Loeb sends correspondence to Secretary of War Taft and asks if an African American contract surgeon can be appointed to serve with African American troops.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-12-21
Albert Bushnell Hart praises President Roosevelt’s decision to disband the three companies of African American troops after the events of Brownsville. Hart believes that in this particular case, the “usual and often genuine excuse that to reveal the name of the supposed Negro criminal is to deliver him up to lynching without examination into his guilt,” does not have a place, and that every man in the companies knew that those responsible would have been given a fair trial and protection from mob violence.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-26